


Taste Tester

by fadedflowers



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baking, F/M, Food Fight, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 20:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14065170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedflowers/pseuds/fadedflowers
Summary: Grog did not cook or bake. The most he could do was pour things that had already been measured into a bowl or put in or take out a pan where the treats would be heated.Safe to say, Grog had not aided anyone in a kitchen in years.That was… until today.





	Taste Tester

Grog did not cook or bake. Wilhand and Pike had tried to teach him, but there were a lot of numbers and ingredients. It frustrated him.  
  
The most he could do was pour things that had already been measured into a bowl or put in or take out a pan where the treats would be heated.  
  
Safe to say, Grog had not aided anyone in a kitchen in years. Grog would happily eat whatever was put in front of him, but would not directly volunteer to help.  
  
That was… until today.

 

* * *

 

Entering the Slayer’s Cake, Grog noticed the lack of anybody’s presence. He furrowed his brows. “Hello! Is anybody here?”  
  
“Grog!” The goliath turned his to see a redhead come out from the back kitchen. “I’m glad to see you!”  
  
“Really? What’s going on?” Grog asked, not sure if he should be worried when he could clearly see her enthusiasm. He also could not lie: he was glad Keyleth was happy to see him.  
  
“I need some help with a new cookie recipe, and everyone wanted to have lunch so I didn’t want to ask them. Do you want to help me?” Keyleth looked at Grog expectedly, hopefully.  
  
“Uh,” Grog hesitated, visibly nervous at the thought of trying to help anyone in a kitchen scenario.  
  
“Please, Grog. I’d appreciate it a lot!” She smiled, trying to convince him to aid with the expression on her face, “You would even get to taste them afterwards.”  
  
“What kind of cookies are they?” Grog could not help but ask.  
  
“Salted-cocoa hazelnut cookies. I’m experimenting, and I’m going to need a secondary taste tester to get all the flavors right together. Please, Grog.” She clasped her hands together, as if to plead with him.  
  
“Hm, okay. I’ll help you.” He could be a taste tester. He did not have to measure anything or do the smart stuff, Keyleth would be doing that, right?  
  
“Great!” Keyleth grinned. “Come on!” She turned around and went back to the kitchen.  
  
Grog followed her lead, slightly nervous of what he might not be able to do (and being in close quarters alone with Keyleth).  
  
Seeing Grog enter the kitchen, Keyleth clapped her hands, “Okay, so, first, we have to put the base together.”  
  
“I’m not good with the measuring and numbers thing,” Grog eyed her skeptically as he stepped towards her gingerly.  
  
“Oh, that’s okay, you can be the mixer!” Keyleth waved him over, “Come on, it’ll be fun.”  
  
Watching Keyleth grinning up at him, he was not sure if this was a good idea.

 

* * *

 

Keyleth directed Grog where she would need his aid to make things quicker before they began to taste their mixture and final products.  
  
It took Keyleth and Grog awhile to get a hang of their new ingredients (and Keyleth knew Vex would not be happy about the silver and copper she had spent of extra materials). They had to figure out how they all worked together. They had to “approve” how it tasted while it was being made before they moved on to cooking them. At times, the final product would say whether the batch was successful or not.  
  
It was on their third try and final batch did they find the best combination.

 

* * *

 

“Grog, this is so good.” Keyleth threw back her head and groaned, a half of a cookie in her hand.  
  
“Oh yeah, I like this.” A happy smile appeared on Grog’s face, “I’m gonna have another!”  
  
Keyleth’s shoulders shrugged up, a smile on her face, bashful. “I’m glad you like them! We’ll have to save a few for Vex and the others to try though, so we can’t eat them all.”  
  
“Why can’t we make another batch? We know how to do it now.” Grog asked, upset and disappointed that he would not be able to eat as many as he would like.  
  
“I know, but we already went through a few batches, and I don’t want to waste more,” Keyleth told Grog, trying to convince him without being mean.  
  
Grog sighed, “Fine.” He picked up another cookie, beginning to eat it slower to save the amount he was allowed to eat.  
  
“You know, Grog. I really liked baking with you today,” Keyleth admitted, taking another small bite of her cookie.  
  
“Yeah,” Grog nodded, “it was fun.” He did not expect to be of any help, but Keyleth knew him. She knew what he was capable of and worked with it. “You know, we make a great team,” he mused.  
  
“I think so too.” Keyleth smiled at him softly. Grog was Keyleth’s first thought as a partner and the only person she trusted to catch her when she wanted to jump off a roof (ignoring the fact that he was the only one in Vox Machina who was able to). She thought he was funny and had more heart than he realized.  
  
Grog was pretty great.  
  
Finishing his cookie, Grog glanced over the mess they made around the kitchen. “I wonder what Vex is gonna think about this.”  
  
“Oh god,” Keyleth turned to focus on the ingredients and bowls spread over the counters, “you’re right. We have to clean this up.” Moving around Grog, she tripped over herself, only to catch her hands on the edge of a bowl on the counter.  
  
The bowl flipped quickly, a pile of flour jumping onto her face.  
  
Seeing this happen, Grog’s face transitioned from surprise to amusement.  
  
Hearing Grog’s laughter, Keyleth slowly turned to him, a slow smile spreading on her face, eyes devious, “Oh, you think that’s funny, huh?”  
  
“Well, I mean, you tripped, and the flour went poof, and…” Grog was trying to explain himself, failing to stop laughing at Keyleth’s face covered in flour.  
  
“You know what…” Keyleth turned, grabbed a bit of flour, then tossed it into Grog’s face. “Ha!” She grinned, quite proud of herself.  
  
“Oh, you wanna play that way, do ya?” Keyleth looked at him confused before Grog grabbed an egg.  
  
“Oh no, Grog!” Feeling the smash of the egg on her head, Keyleth’s mouth opened wide.  
  
Grog laughed loudly in her face.  
  
Keyleth wiped the egg away that had dripped onto her forehead. “It’s on!”

 

* * *

 

They spent twenty minutes throwing ingredients and bowls at each other. Grog was a better aim and threw what he had a bit too hard, but he did not do enough to hurt her, and Keyleth had been around Grog enough to know that sometimes he did not know his own strength when he was not fighting.  
  
Eventually, Grog and Keyleth ended up trying to shove food at each other directly. In doing so, they both began slipping on the egg residue on the floor.  
  
Keyleth reached out and grabbed onto Grog’s arms while Grog tried to get a grip on the counter next to them.  
  
It was to no avail. Both ended up losing their footing, falling to the floor beneath them.  
  
Grog let out an, “Oomph,” as his back hit the hard floor, Keyleth falling directly on top of him.  
  
It took a moment for the surprise to shake off, and when it did, Keyleth opened her eyes. They were staring directly into Grog.  
  
She froze. “Hi,” she squeaked.  
  
Seeing her face so close to his, he did not try to move. “Hi.”  
  
They both stared at each other.  
  
Until they weren’t.

 

* * *

 

“I think we have some extra in the back,” Vex told Pike as they stepped into the kitchen.

Pike smiled and was about to respond when Vex cut her off.  
  
“What the hell?!”  
  
Pike followed Vex’s gaze to where Keyleth and Grog laid on an egg and flour covered ground, lips connected and Grog’s arms wrapped around Keyleth.  
  
It was going to be a long day.


End file.
